Credit: (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

WASHINGTON — Apparent drone sightings have sent New Jersey residents and politicians who represent the state, as well as residents and lawmakers across the Northeast, into a collective frenzy in recent weeks.

While law enforcement officials said some of what the public is seeing are drones, other sightings are manned aircraft.

The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and state police are investigating the uptick in apparent drone activity.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” the FBI and DHS said in a joint statement.

The federal agencies, in part, said “upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space. “

Speaking on ABC on Sunday, Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of DHS, said some of what people are seeing is drones. But those drones are not linked to a foreign power, he said. “We know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter.”

Public messages like those have done little to tamp down speculation and demands from elected officials. And lawmakers have been making many demands in recent weeks. Here’s a sampling of those requests and statements:

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

On Dec. 10, Booker requested, in a letter, federal briefing for county and municipal officials about “multiple confirmed sightings of unexplained drone activity over New Jersey communities and military installations.”

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ)

Kim, like many other lawmakers, has been frustrated with the limited information from federal officials. He went on a police ride-along last week. First Kim posted what he suspected were photos of drones on social media. Later, after “deeper analysis,” Kim said online, “most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.”

Last night I went out with local police to spot drone flying over New Jersey, here’s what I saw. We drove to Round Valley Reservoir and the officer pointed to lights moving low over the tree line. Sometimes they were solid white light, others flashed of red and green.THREAD pic.twitter.com/ly7kUUDWDn

— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) December 13, 2024

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd)

During a Fox News interview last week, Van Drew said, citing “very high sources,” the drones had come from an Iranian government “mothership probably about a month ago.”

“It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America,” Van Drew said of such a ship.

The Pentagon said there is no truth to that statement. Van Drew has not retracted his claim.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th)

Smith ramped up rhetoric on Saturday when he indicated, without proof, that drones could be linked to foreign rival nations.

“The elusive maneuvering of these drones suggests a major military power sophistication that begs the question whether they have been deployed to test our defense capabilities—or worse—by violent dictatorships including Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea,” Smith said.

Smith said he wrote Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting the U.S. military “use force to down one or more of these unmanned threats to uncover the mystery of the drones.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5th)

On Friday, Gottheimer filed legislation to make radar systems “more available” to state and local police. He also urged the federal agencies to “brief the public” in person.

This Congress is in session for one more week, making the chances of Gottheimer’s bill becoming law highly unlikely.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th)

Sherrill on Monday called on federal authorities to use military-grade drones to track unmanned aircraft and “identify their locations of origin.”

She also requested a closed-door briefing for Congress, for President Joe Biden to create a task force on unmanned aircraft and for better communication with the public.